One dead after shooting at Dooky Chase’s restaurant in New Orleans

Four people were shot on Friday night at Dooky Chase’s, a historic restaurant in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans; one person was killed, authorities said. The shooting occurred around 8 p.m., only weeks into the city’s busy Mardi Gras season.

Police said the restaurant itself was not the target. According to authorities, a gunman pursued a person into the establishment, fired several shots that struck patrons, and then fled. New Orleans police said the person who had been pursued collapsed inside the restaurant while bystanders were hit.

Dooky Chase’s is a long-standing culinary landmark with deep ties to the city’s Black community and the civil rights movement; Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have dined there and the restaurant was long helmed by Leah Chase, who died in 2019.

Officers cordoned off the scene with police tape and multiple patrol cars, and investigators said the shooter briefly left the area, returned, then fled again. Authorities asked residents to check doorbell cameras and to come forward with information; by Saturday afternoon a reward for information had been doubled to $5,000, The Times-Picayune/NOLA.com reported. The mayor said the restaurant had not experienced an incident like this in its 85 years and characterized the attack as targeted toward one person. Police continue to search for the gunman.

Key Topics

World, Dooky Chase, New Orleans, Treme, Mardi Gras, Leah Chase